Good Mac firewall?

[TheWakeUpBomb]

A friend recently got a 15" Powerbook, and she picked up Norton Antivirus, but not Norton Internet Security, when she bought the thing. I installed Antivirus on there with no problems.

But, because she is going to be doing plenty of wireless browsing, I figured it might be a good idea to get a firewall program. Is there a good Mac equivalent to free PC firewall programs, like ZoneAlarm? If not, what paid programs would you recommend?

Any other Mac shareware/freeware tips?

Thanks.

[KDdidit]

I've heard good things about Brickhouse.

http://www.securemac.com/brickhouse.php

But since I don't run a firewall on my Mac at home take it with a grain of salt.

[skipshady]

Any other Mac shareware/freeware tips?
I just use the firewall that's part of the OS, so I don't have any firewall advice.




But if you shut down your computer every night, I strongly recommend MacJanitor. Every night around 3 am, your Mac automatically does maintenance work, but if your Mac's off instead of sleeping, then it can't do the maintenance work and it starts to slow down eventually. MacJanitor does the nightly/weekly/monthly maintenance on command.

[TheWakeUpBomb]

I just use the firewall that's part of the OS, so I don't have any firewall advice.




But if you shut down your computer every night, I strongly recommend MacJanitor. Every night around 3 am, your Mac automatically does maintenance work, but if your Mac's off instead of sleeping, then it can't do the maintenance work and it starts to slow down eventually. MacJanitor does the nightly/weekly/monthly maintenance on command.Great tip. Thanks.

So, there is embedded firewall software in the OS? I did not know that. It's painful being a Mac newbie again (my last Mac was purchased in 1995; my next one will be purchased this year). How do I access it?

Thanks again to both of you.

[KDdidit]

I'd type it out but this has nice pictures

http://blue.dalmatian.users.btopenworld.com/firewallOSX/firewall.html

[TheWakeUpBomb]

I'd type it out but this has nice pictures

http://blue.dalmatian.users.btopenworld.com/firewallOSX/firewall.htmlYou kick ass. skipshady, too. Big ups.

[Dyvel]

If you buy a new Mac go out and buy this book on OS X by Robin Williams (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?pwb=1&ean=9780321232960)

[skipshady]

If you buy a new Mac go out and buy this book on OS X by Robin Williams (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?pwb=1&ean=9780321232960)
Not nearly as funny as I expected. But at least it wasn't material dug up from the 70s.

[-cman-]

Great info at O'Reilly on tweaking Jaguar's firewall settings for added functionality.

http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2002/12/27/macosx_firewall.html

[HiJazzey]

I use Norton Internet security on my Powerbook. Happy with it. Only annoying thing is that it shows a dialog box whenever a port is opened (even when you set the check box) which gets a bit tiresome when you startup mlnet.

[furie]

i have norton's firewall on;y because I got it for free. OSX fiewall is just fine though...

[Spiro_In_San_Jose]

Just go to System Preferences and click on the "Sharing" Preference. Then click on the "Firewall" tab, and if it already isn't clicked, hit "Start".